The Best Brandy Clark Songs

Girl Next Door

Clark fully admits she’s not the rosy-cheeked, virginal-metaphor, next-door type. She might be “just the perfect mess”, and if that’s not what you’re looking for, “then just go next door,” she sings.

“I’ve never been to jail / But hell, I wouldn’t put it past me,” she shrugs in the first verse. She’s rough around the edges, not the type you talk home to mama.

Soap Opera

In a similar vein to ‘Big Day in a Small Town,’ ‘Soap Opera’ shines a spotlight on the cast of characters living in a small town. Sherry and Jimmy are just two characters taking centerstage, with Clark inviting the listener into a salacious soap opera. With drama always unfolding, well, some performances are Emmy-worthy – and let’s leave it at that.

You're Drunk

Heartbreak can do a number on the mind. As a red-faced, totally-blitzed ex-lover keeps showing up or blowing up her phone, Clark has had about enough. With ‘You’re Drunk,’ she tells it exactly like it is. “This time, no, that dog won’t hunt,” she sings. The relationship ended for a reason; her ex just wasn’t worth her time.

Big Day in a Small Town

“There’s always something to talk about,” Clark sings. The title track to her second studio set, ‘Big Day in a Small Town’ is chock-full of sordid tales about drunk driving, teenage pregnancy and plenty of gossip. Small-town living might not be glamorous, but the drama that circulates provides plenty of entertainment to pass the time.

I'll Be the Sad Song

Kicking off Your Life is a Record, ‘I’ll Be the Sad Song’ sets up the album’s scope - a soundtrack to every moment of our lives. It falls bittersweetly on the eardrums, as Clark reflects on a past relationship and how long-lasting the pain has become. “I’ll be your sad song, your good-love-gone-bad song,” she sings.

Long Walk

Clark is no stranger to being brutally honest, and ‘Long Walk’ is certainly no exception. “Take a cinderblock with you as a souvenir,” she sings, calling out a mean girl. The jaunty arrangement and giddy-up rhythm play against the sharp-toothed lyrics, a charming concoction that makes for a banger of a track.

Love Can Go to Hell

Lonely and jilted, Clark wishes her ex well, while condemning love for getting her into trouble to begin with. “Yeah, love can go to hell,” she sings with acid on her tongue. Her bite is venomous, yet there’s raw vulnerability to the performance that draws you in. Just another day in heartbreak land.

Get High

Bored with life? Get high. Feeling heartbroken? Get high. Need excitement? Get high. “Sometimes the only way to get by is to get high,” encourages Clark. ‘Get High’ isn’t trying to be some deep reflection of humanity; it’s a simple song about smoking weed. Sometimes, that’s all you need.

Take a Little Pill

Everyone numbs their pain in some form or fashion – whether it’s for depression, nerves or just to cope with the world. A beautifully delicate performance, ‘Take a Little Pill’ sinks into the deterioration of humanity. “If one won’t work, then another one will,” reminds Clark over dusty guitar and percussion. It’s as terribly grim as it is undeniably striking.

Pray to Jesus

Clark opens her debut 12 Stories with ‘Pray to Jesus,’ a rolling mid-tempo about wanting to do things differently to what came before. But it’s futile. Instead, the new generation repeats those same cycles. “So we pray to Jesus, and we play the lotto / Cause there ain’t but two ways we can change tomorrow,” sings Clark.

The Day She Got Divorced

The day she got divorced is like any other day. She woke up, put on her makeup, made a cup of coffee and puffed on a cigarette. “Didn't feel any different than it ever had / She wasn't that sorry, she wasn't that sad,” Clark sings, also noting the character’s infidelity. But no matter, it’s not like any of it is shocking. It’s just another day, after all.

Stripes

Witnessing her lover in bed with a “platinum blonde”, Clark could easily pull the trigger and get her revenge right then and there. But neither stripes nor orange looks good on her. She couldn’t possibly commit a crime of fashion; that’s just out of the question. Instead, she’ll swallow her anger with a little Jack Daniels.

Hold My Hand

Over tender guitar, Clark cherishes the endurance of love and pleads for understanding. A relationship, doused in ego, is a fragile creature after all. “Don't let this moment linger,” she sings, stretching out her fingertips. Such intimacy oozes onto the record, mirrored through Clark’s caressing of the melody. It’s soft, yet powerfully electric.

Three Kids No Husband

“In a broken home, it ain’t no fairy tale,” sings Clark. ‘Three Kids No Husband’ tells the story of a single mother raising three kids, working to the bone, and barely making ends meet. You know what they say, not all heroes wear capes - but this one wears an apron and does so rather proudly.

Since You've Gone to Heaven

Death is a tough pill to swallow. In ‘Since You’ve Gone to Heaven,’ Clark shares the disastrous aftermath of losing a loved one. “The whole world’s gone to hell,” she sings with a downtrodden heart. Death casts darkness over everything, but life goes on. And the world spins as though nothing happened. It’s the way of life.